Radiant heating panel



June 24, 1958 P. M. MUSPRATT RADIANT HEATING PANEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1952 fw/Mm mz/ ATTORNEYS June 24, 1958 P. M. MUSPRATT RADIANT HEATING PANEL Filed Aug. 29. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 faa/MMJpmll Jim 164% W W ATTORNEYS June 24, 1958 P. M. MUSPRATT RADIANT HEATING PANEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 29. 1952 INVENTOR MAI/140m Fall " ATTORNEYS United States Patent This. invention in a broad'sense relates to. the artof building construction. It: is concerned-Withthe initial construction of buildings asqwell'as -modernization of. presentlyexisting-sh'uctures. In a more specific sense,.the invention contemplates. building elements of a particular. constructionespecially adapted forthe distribution of heat to the interior of the building, while at the same time providing building elements of greatly reduced weight with .high insulating qualities; The invention also is concerned with a'method offfabricatingthe contemplated building elementsas well as apparatus'which is utilized in.the method.

1 Radiant heating panels. are ofcourse no innovation in: the art of heating at this stage inlthe development of the art; The common type of panel is provided'with internally extending metal-pipes or tubes which are co n- 2,840,353 Patented June 24, 195

"ice

necessary strength and which may be fabricated economically. a

It is the further object of this invention'to provide a rapid and economical method for manufacturing the elements contemplated by. the present invention. Still another object of the invention'is to provide a coring vessel which is easily removable from the interior is indicatedin Figure 1.

nested; to a source of heat,generally steam or -hot wa'-- ter. In some caseselectricalsheating is'provided by the incorporation of electrical'r'esistance "elements-into the body of the panel- The general idea of heating by radiant panels is widely and well accepted as a very desirable heating method. However, primarily because of the expense in connection with the fabrication of these panels, their use in modern construction is not extensive. The expense arises primarily because of the fact that the neces sary pipes and tubes which carry the heating mediummake them inordinately'costly. Electrical heating panels present a similar obstacle.) These panels also have other disadvantages in that there. isthe danger of leakage ofthe heat transfer medium which necessitates costly repairs to the structure using it, and additionally, care must be ;taken to insure that freezing of the liquid medium in pipes does not occur when heat is not being supplied tothem. a

. The present invention seeks to overcome the difficulties encountered-bythe prior art devices.

It is an object-of the present invention to structural building element which shall be especially suitable for use as a radiant heating andiinsulating panel wherein the necessity vfor added internal tubular elementsis avoided. So faras is known, no building eleprovide a by which the panel as described above may be fabricated.

of a set plastic mass and which will form cores therein each communicating with the other.

Otherobjects of the invention will become apparent as the desoriptionproceeds. 7 7 Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating an assembly of interfitting vessels. The vessels as can be observed are associated in a box-like struc ture. Figure 2 is a view in elevation of Figure 1 taken on the line 2--2 thereof.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of a-portion of -'Fi gure 1 showing 'a corner assembly partially in section and broken away. a

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a structural member of this invention, a portion thereof being broken away, to illustrate the arrangementof internal ducts. Q 1

Figure 5 illustrates a component of the vessel which Figure 6 is'a sectional view taken on the line 6- 6 ofFigure 5.. A p

Figure 7 is a vessel element which co-operates with the element illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Figure 8 is a view in section of Figure-7 taken on the lineT8--8. V a M Figure 9 illustrates a' modified formof vessel element. Referring to Figure 4-of the -drawings, numeral -20 denotes a panel constructed in accordance with the teac'hand numeral 24 denotes internalpassageways extending ment has been suggested by the art which includes the F 5 provision of an inner connecting network of communieating ducts that are necessary for highly efficient heat exchange uniformly throughoutthe surface ofa panel. Building elements exist that are internally cored in one.

direction: but, as will be seen, the present invention seeks to improve upon such panels. The art has not suggested could not be made intercommunicatingone with the other without leaving metal tubes or tubes. of, other material in place.

It is avfurther obj eet invention to provideg an. element of the character indicated which will afford the longitudinally. In the'embodiment shown in Figure 4, the internal passagewa'ys,or cores as they arehereinafter referred to, lie in a common horizontal plane and each core intersects the other at right angles. Panel 20 isentirely without added internal pipes, the cores being formed in the body of the panel itself. This panel is fabricated from a single material and is of entirely one piece construction. It will be observed that the cores lie in a plane nearer the top surface of the panel than the bottom for the reason that the invention contemplates in the preferred form that only one side of the panel will serve as a heat source in use.

So far as is known no method exists in the prior art The present invention provides. a new and novel method together with the necessary apparatus for forming buildingelements such as illustrated by Figure 4 and described above. A formed product may take many forms and shapes. Consequently, for the sake of simplicity, and in illustrating the invention, the method and apparatus will hereinafter be detailed in terms of the formation of a building panel such as shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, there is illustrated a vessel element 26. The length and diameter of this element is not critical, such dimensions being fixed by the capacity, and strength factor in the panel itself. As can 5 be readily seen, vessel element 26 takes the form of an elongated tube-like structure. Throughout the length of element 26, and at diametrically opposedpoi'nts, a series of openings are formed in the wall thereof. These closure. as will be described at greater length hereinafter, there is provided a valve, indicated by numeral 30. On the interior of element 26, and along its upper surface as best seen to. Figure 3, there Jsfillustratedsomewhat sche-r. matically a heating element denoted by numeral 32Iand a tube for compressed air denote'diby num'eral;33, the purposes-of which will be'furtherzelaborated upon.: .Ref-. erence to Figure 1 oftheidrawi'ng at. this point will illustrate the position of elements 26 in the assembly.

. The description now proceedswith a discussion of Figures7fand8; I

Figures 7 and 8 illustrate aaecondtube-like vessel eletion of paratfin wax and bituminous material. The meltmen: byfnumeral'u. This el'ementiisf of slightly less diameter than element 26. so that in 'use'itmay be pnmdthrough'openings 28'of elements 26.. The assembly ot'a' plurality of elc'ments '26 and 34 forms a'llattice struct uera plan view; ot'which is shown in Figure In element 34, similarly as in element 26, there is provided-a heater. element denotedby numeral 36 and a tube for carrying compressed air, the tube'hein'g indicated by numeral 38.; One ,end otelement 34: is closed..as-- indieetedet numeral 40 in whiehclosure, there i located a valve denoted by numeral 42.. 'Ihedetail otthe closure valves aswcllas: their connections to the source of compressed air ismore fully illustrated in Figure 3..

Reierringnow to Figures-1 and ,2, there is illustrated plished in the following manner.

box-like structure com osed of sidewalls an diendwalls v a P between-the closure cap of elements 26 and 34 and the which structure; in practice is seated upon a pallet,fthe pallet being illustrated in Figure 2 and denoted by riumeral M {The walls of the' boxslike structure which are denoted by numerals 46 and 48 are provided with a series oi; openingsthronghfwhich vessel elements 26 and 34 may be passed and supported, For. reasons that will appears littlelaten. openings in adjacent sidewalls are provided with caps denoted by numeral 50. In assembling,

structure, with the :vessel, element's, vessel elementsjfi are first throughthe unobstructed openingsintbewall .46. and passed throughto a point. where the closedend of. each vessel e1ement26 rests within the cap,-structureofthe cap; elements 50'.-:,At this point ing point of such compositions preferably should not exceed about 150 F. The low melting point material may be deposited on a great variety of bases for giving it sup port and shape, for example, cheesecloth, paper, jute and the like. The sheaths need not have walls of great thickness, it being contemplated that a thickness of A to of an inch will sufiice. I

When it is desired to withdraw vessel elements 26 and 34 heat is supplied to the interior of vesselelements 26 and 34, which heat serves to soften the'sheath material, thus providing .a lubricating agent which facilitates their withdrawal.

It will be understood by those skilled .in the art that the pressure resulting by reason of the expansion of the concrete on elements 26 and 34 is of considerable magnitude, and that even though these elements will be withdrawn on 8?. lubricated surface, the. withdrawal problem is not completely? solved. In' order to provide a permanentfi'ee space. between vessel elements '26 and 34 an'd the mass of concrete, it is desirable .to remove at least a portion of themeltedsheath material. This is accom- As indicatedprevionsly, the 'clo's'ed endi of elements 26, and. 34. extend to a pointwithincap number '50 as can be seen in Figured. Alsoasourcei of compressed air is connected to a valve: element which opens into the space outside cap'sllcuwhen the heat has: sufliciently melted the sheathingmaterial, air is introduced into the space immediately adjacent to cap 50. The'actio'n ofthe isnot immediate uponthe closure elements in vessel ele ments-26 and 34,.1as theseelements are still quite firmly held by ,the viscosity; of the melted substance. This being the case,v thepressure is diverted to act upon the melted mass itself and itis:expelledxfr oni the point immediately adjacent to theopposite'cnd of:ves'sel-'elements 26 and openings ;28,in vessel elements 26 correspond with the w thesidewall 48; Vessel elements 34- are. then through theo'penings in sidewall 48, then through openings. 28 in vessel elements 26 .to a point where the closed end of vessel elements 26 rests'within caps .50. 1 With vessel elements 26 and 34' in. place, a plastic 34; ;When this material ejecting action has proceeded sufliciently, holding; pressures'on elements 26 and 34 will have been sufliciently reduced to allow the compressed air to act upon the closed ends'of elements 26 and 34 and canseth emto inove"outwardly.' At-this time elements 26 and 34 ca'n be withdrawn.

maesflor example concrete, is poured in the box around the vessel elements and. processed in any desired manner. After the. mass has set,,.vessel elements 26 and:3.4 are.

- withdrawm, leavingtheformedproduct completely honeys combed with intercommunicating ducts as described previously in connection withpanel 20. V The foregoing, in a'general way, describes important aspects of the basic scheme of the invention. However, in order to facilitate the workings of the basic idea and render itwholly feasible and practical, there are additional: desirable aspects of the invention; which require explanation.- These aspects have to do in the most part with ease of removal of vessel elements 26 and 3.4. It will be understood by those skilled in. the art that if no special means is. provided for the withdrawalrof elements 26 and 34, the task ,would be almost an a practical sense. r r t In order that the withdrawal of these elements may be performed, each. of elements 26 and'34 prior to assembly in'the form. illustrated'in Figurelis providedswith an outer sheath denotedby numeral" 52. The sheath is not impossible one in illustratedin the. drawing except in ,Figure l asit will be generally understood to conform, to the configuration in all respects of vesselelements'26;and 3.4 exceptthatrno end closure element is providedj-both ends being open. Sheath elements 52 are .preformed'structures whichmay be of many compositions. but which basically are composedot low melting point materials seen as 'a'combina It will be-unders'tood, of course, that means other than that which-hasjustbeen described may be provided for effectingthe release of the vessel? element from the grip of the expanded concrete. l It isftherefore, to be noted that the invention'herein' described 'istnot to be limitedby any; particularm'eans. of withdrawal, the:purpose of the specific description .being to alford'thoseinterestedin the.

'art the advantage of a simple practical means as made knownby this invention. Forexample, it is conceivable that in the production of certain types ofiformbdproducts' a heavy. lubricant appliedto the vessel: element 34 would provide the necessary means of release. However, in productsv whichxare, formed by vibratory methods, the forces thus caused to be developed within the concrete bearing upon the vessel elements 26 and 34; such a method. is not 'siiitable,. asf the lubric ant is. displaced ,from itsc ontact with thelj vessel elements. and is floated to the surface of'the concrete, itself. i i

It should be noted that super-heated .sten i may be employed for simultaneously heating the vessel elements and supplying the desired pressure to effect the ejecting action upon the vessel elements. For example,.the closures for the ends of the vessel elements as illustrated hereinmay be positioned on their outside ends so that longitudinal chamberslare formedwithinwliich to receive thesteami'fObviously, the pressure inay betuneup within such as;desiredj; ,Of course after the first. group of'vessel elements is withdrawn, 'it'will' be necessary plug the core openings. which they ,have-jpst vadat'ed; OtheI'WlSdLit would, be difficult td'maintaihfthe' desired.

pressure;

supplied to the air lines.

'-It is' important to note that other means for forming the. construction ,elements of this invention may be practiced in lieu of the particularly described vessel elements herein. For example, it is conceivable that a constructionelementwith communicating cores'may be formed bydepositing a plastic mass upon a suitably formed vessel constructed of inflammable material. When the poured mass has set, such vessel could easily be burned out by supplying combustion air interiorly of the product as the vessel burns itself out.

. Instead of preforming a vessel wholly of inflammable material, the sheath itself maybe partially formed or wholly formed of inflammable material and after it has performed its function it may be burned out. For ex- .ample, it is contemplated that such a sheath may be formed of compressed sawdust with which may be admixed other inflammable and oxogen-supplying material; alternatively, the sawdust sheath may be formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending fuses which may be ignited and supply necessary ignition temperature for the sawdust all along the length of the sheath. Unless the sawdust itself protects the fuse sufliciently, it would be desirable that it be encased with an'impermeable coating so that moisture will not prevent proper ignition.

In another form of sheath the inflammable material may be provided with an outer water-proofed paper layer and an inner paper layer. The outer layer being waterproof will protect the inflammable sheath from moisture;

the inner paper sheath will facilitate its assembly with the vessel element itsself and will also protect the inflammable layer from damage- By using either of the foregoing suggested vessel or sheath members the necessity for supplying heat to the interior of the vessel itself will be obviated, although in some instances, depending upon the degree to which the concrete has set in most instances, it may still be desirable to utilize pressure so as to remove as much of the residual sheath material as is possible, thereby lessening the difliculty of extracting the vessel.

It will, of course, be understood that the purpose of the inflammable sheath is to provide the necessary space between the vessel and the rigidified concrete so that when the sheath is burned out little difliculty will be encountered in withdrawing the vessel.

Referring to Figure 9 of the drawings, there is illustrated a modified form of vessel element with which it is possible to provide a similar building or heat-exchange element The only difference resulting in the elements in using this form of vessel is that the axes of the cores will not lie in a common plane. It will be noted that the intersecting components of this vessel structure do not pass one within the other but rather one simply nests within a cut-out portion of the other. Consequently when the components of the vessel element are withdrawn from the plastic mass, each core will communicate with the other through the openings which are left at the points where the components cross each other. The sequence of the method steps in utilizing this form of the apparatus is identical with that heretofore described. Of course, it will be obvious that a modified form of box mold willhave to be provided with the openings in the side walls thereof offset to accommodate the offsetting of .the vessel components.

In the preceding paragraphs reference was made to 'valve elements 30 and 42. These are simple one-way valves, spring urged to remain closed to the outside ends -of the vessel components until such time as pressure is This prevents the possibility "that the lines may become clogged and produce dilficulty when it is desired to remove the vessel element from the 'body of the plastic mass. I

Those skilled in the art of forming construction units .of this general character will understand readily that the ;:panels need not be restricted in size and that full size wall, flooror ceiling panels may be provided. Furthen more, it is contemplated by this invention that a series of panels may be made intercommunicating by providing connections from the cores of one to the cores of another so as to provide circulation of a heating or cooling medium completely about the space whichthey may be enclosing. In this' arrangement it is contemplated that one of the panels will be connected to a manifold which will uniformly distribute the heat-exchange material. 1

Also, it will be understood that a layer of insulating material may be provided in the formed product by first pouring a lower layer of concrete,-then applying the insulating material and thereafter continuing the pouring about the vessel until it is covered to the desired depth. By this invention it is possible to supply a cast building element which will meet the necessary specifications of the building codes and which will not require backing up by the usual standard masonry while at the same time not encountering the disadvantage of having excess dead weight in the structure.

It is contemplated that the preferred heat exchange medium for use in the described equipment will be air. However, no obstacle is seen to the use of any other desired heat-exchange medium where a membrane lining or other impervious coating is provided.

It may be that some protection for the sheaths of the vessel elements will be required when vibratory means is inserted into the plastic mass; otherwise the vibratory equipment may damage the sheathing members and make it impossible to withdraw a portion of the vessel element. In order to obviate this difficulty it may be necessary to provide the outer surface of the sheaths with a thin metal wrapping of the spiral type which will be readily remov-.

able when the vessel elements have been withdrawn.

The reference which has been made herein to particular forms and shapes of elements and the material suggested for composing these elements is not to be taken as restrictiveupon the scope of the invention as it should be obvious that the broad concept of the invention may be applied wherever it is desired to interally core any building unit. For example, this invention may provide units that may be employed with greater facility by the manufacturers of pre-stressed concrete, in all the various forms such pre-stressed units may take. Additionally, the construction materials may be of any known plastic.

The invention is not restricted in application to the formation of elements such as panels and the like as particularly described herein; on the contrary the invention may be employed in connection with stationary building forms where it is desired to save material and avoid dead weight in the structure without loss of strength. Particularly, it .is contemplated that the invention may be very advantageously applied in connection with the construction of dams and large retaining walls for whatever purpose and in the building of large wall sections where the forms are built upon the foundation for the purpose of receiving a concrete mass.

Having described the invention in specific detail it is desired to now claim the invention and to point out that it is to be limited only as indicated by the claim.

I claim:

A construction element suitable for use as a structural building element of substantially reduced weight with high insulating qualities for use as a radiant heating unit comprising a substantially rectangular concrete block having a pair of parallel faces separated from one another by a distance equal to the thickness of said block, said block having a first plurality of parallel internal bores extending longitudinally through said block with the axes of said bores lying in a first plane parallel to said faces, said block including a second plurality of parallel internal bores extending transversely through said block and intersecting said first plurality of said bores to provide communication between said first and said second plurality of bores, the axes of said second plurality of bores lying ingisgcpnd planehsppc cd f; m and parallel with said-first PM; said hores dcfining 416w paths for the passage of hgg te xchan ge mediux thqpcthroug h.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED "STATES PATENTS MaeKay e t pl Nov. 28, 1944 Grolsje'anje't a1. Ma yl0, 1949 Ta ts :h Dec. 9, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 'G feat Britain Mar. 8, 1944 Belgium Jan. 15, 1951 

